Vista, Oak Ridge kick off season on Saturday

Vista del Lago and Oak Ridge might not be in the same league anymore, but there’s a reason the teams still have each other on the schedule.
In a short time, the two schools a stone’s throw away from each other have developed a spirited rivalry. The teams meet at 7 p.m. Saturday at Prairie City Stadium to kick-off the season. Oak Ridge coach Eric Cavaliere couldn’t think of a better way to start the year.
“We wanted to play Vista first because when you’re holding workouts over the summer, you have to have something to look forward to and having Vista first makes it easier to get the guys going,” Cavaliere said. “It’s a newer rivalry, but I compare it to our rivalry with Ponderosa. No matter what team is up and what team is down, when teams know each other as well as we know each other, it’s going to be a close game.”
Last year’s game couldn’t have been any closer, as Oak Ridge squeaked out a 7-6 win on their home field. Vista coach Chris Jones is looking forward to the meeting Oak Ridge, a team he coached not that long ago.
“Number one, it will be a fun game,” Jones said. “I’m hoping for a big, energetic crowd, and I think it will be a great way to kick-off the season. It’s something we’ve been looking forward to since we lost to them last year. Oak Ridge has some key weapons coming back and should be pretty good on offense and even better on defense. It will be a fun deal to play them.”